Oil group, shipping firm tie up for $637 mln southern port
Vietnamese state-run giants PetroVietnam and Vinalines have teamed up to establish a new joint stock company to develop a new port complex at an estimated cost of US$637 million in southern Vietnam.
The Sao Mai – Ben Dinh Petroleum Investment Joint Stock Company worth VND500 billion was formed by PetroVietnam with its two arms PetroVietnam Finance Joint Stock Company and Petroleum Technical Services Joint Stock Company, and Vinalines known as the National Shipping Lines Corp.
The new entity, which officially made its debut on Saturday, will build a complex of port and facilities for oil and gas services in Sao Mai – Ben Dinh area in the southern Ba Ria – Vung Tau province.
One of 30 key national projects for development in 2006-2010 under a master zoning plan for seaports, it will have six container wharfs capable of handling 100,000-ton ships and 25-50 million tons of goods per year.
Under a recent government dispatch to the two corporations, they will be free to mobilize funds from both domestic and foreign sources for the complex to provide oil and gas and container handling services, and have a shipyard and a petroleum depot.
Work on the facility is expected to begin by the end of this year.
Vinalines and PetroVietnam, the investors, have held talks with domestic and foreign banks like CitiGroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsch Bank, and Mizuho to secure credit.
More ports
Vinalines, is considering joining forces with international partners to develop two mammoth port complexes in central and southern Vietnam.
The group might team up with Japan’s Sumitomo and Belgium’s Port of Zeebrugge to secure funds for the construction of Khanh Hoa Province’s Van Phong Port and Hai Phong’s Lach Huyen Port.
Sumitomo had showed interest in the Van Phong Port and the Belgium port operator is expected to engage in the Lach Huyen Port.
Vinalines plans to develop the Van Phong Port into a state-of-the-art international facility, estimated to cost US$169 million. Work is set to start on the first two berths later this year.
Van Phong bay is an international transshipment point close to international sea lanes to Europe, North Asia, Australia and East Asia. Shipments from southern China and ASEAN countries can transit there if shippers want to reduce shipping time and expenses.
Van Phong Port plays a crucial role in the economic zone of the same name covering 150,000ha of land and water surface in the bay.
A feasibility study for the prospects of the northern Lach Huyen International Seaport mega project has been finalized and submitted to the government for approval.
The project, estimated to cost VND27 trillion ($1.6 billion) for infrastructure and berth construction, is scheduled to launch in 2008.
As planned, the state budget will earmark funds for the initial construction of the seaport, while the bulk will be sourced from outside sources, including the foreign private sector.
Lach Huyen will serve as an international gate seaport and a large transit port for the whole of northern Vietnam.
It is designed to accommodate vessels of between 60,000 and 80,000 TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent units) and have annual cargo throughput of between 50 and 60 million tons when in full performance.
Vinalines is expected to operate the first two berths of the Lach Huyen project in 2010.
Source: TBKTVN – Compiled by Dong Ha
